Andrew Derrick was hired as the head coach of the Gonzaga women’s rowing program on July 13, 2020. The Cincinnati, Ohio native arrived at GU from Seattle Pacific where he spent the 2016-20 seasons.
Derrick has over 25 years of coaching and rowing experience and led Gonzaga to its ninth-straight West Coast Conference Championship during the 2024 season. He was recently named the WCC Coach of the Year for the third time in the last four years.
The 2024 Campaign saw the Zags NCAA eligible boats go undefeated in conference in the I Eight and I Four, with the II Eight placing 2nd just once. Out of conference, Gonzaga earned head-to-head wins over Minnesota, USC, UCLA, Tulsa, Miami, Oregon State, Oklahoma, Washington State, Northeastern, SMU, Boston, Indiana, and others.
Over the last four years, the Zags have won 4 WCC Team Championships, 10 of 12 Individual Event Championships, amassed an in-conference W/L record of 127 /5 in the NCAA events, finished in the top 20 at the NCAA Championships each year including tying the program’s second highest mark of 17th in 2024,
2024 also saw the women's rowing team enjoy tremendous success off the water with an astounding 19 Dean’s List (3.5-3.84) and 24 Presidents List (3.85+) honorees to claim the program’s highest historical team GPA of 3.65. 17 Zags were also named National Scholar Athletes by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association, shattering the previous record of 12 set just a year before in 2023. The team also volunteered 372 hours in the local Spokane community and set a departmental record for PRIDE points, awarded for being involved on campus, in the community, and in supporting fellow Zag student- athletes.
Individual student athletes have also flourished as Derrick helmed the Zag Program with two Zags being named All-Americans, twelve as All-Conference, three WCC rowers-of-the year, three WCC coxswains of the year, and three newcomers-of-the year recipients over the last four years.
Before Gonzaga, Derrick rebuilt the Seattle Pacific program from four members in 2016 to 35 in just over two years as the program competed in national regattas for the first time in nearly a decade while also returning to being ranked in the national polls.
The Falcons collected several victories against Division I opponents including several West Coast Conference programs. In 2019, the Falcons placed fourth at the NCAA Championships, and prior to the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Seattle Pacific ranked No. 4 nationally in the CRCA/U.S. Rowing Coaches national poll.
Prior to SPU, Derrick built the fledgling women’s rowing program at Central Oklahoma from 2011-16, directing the team to the program’s first-ever bid to the NCAA Championships in 2011. The Broncos qualified for the NCAA Championships every year during Derrick’s head coach tenure, finishing as the National Runner-Up in 2016. He produced the first All-American in the program’s history, producing a total of 11 during his time in Edmond.
Derrick arrived at UCO from just down the road at the University of Oklahoma where he helped start the rowing program as an assistant coach in 2008. He spent two seasons in Norman, collecting a 112-28 overall record. Derrick was named the 2009 South Region Assistant Coach of the Year for his efforts. Prior to his time at Oklahoma, Derrick served as the assistant rowing coach at the University of Central Florida from 2006-08 where the Knights earned their highest program ranking of 9th in the 2007 National polls.
Before the start of his coaching career, Derrick spent two years working for Pocock Racing Shells in Everett, Washington, one of the nation’s premier boat manufacturers. During his time with Pocock, Derrick served as an operations manager for its partner company, First Boat Co.
As a student-athlete Derrick rowed at both the collegiate and international levels, competing for the University of Washington from 2000-04 while representing the United States in 1999 and 2001; he won a silver medal at the U-23 World Championships in 2001. As a Husky, Derrick was a three-time Pac-10 Champion, a two-time National Champion Runner-Up and the 2001 National Champion. He was selected to the 2004 Pac-10 All-Conference Team, and he was a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic Team member.
Derrick graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree and went back four years later to earn his Master of Education in Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership once embarking on collegiate coaching as his career. He is married to the former Karin Brevick, an All-America rower at Washington State. They have two daughters Kathryn and Josephine as well as a son, Jack
